All Grown Up: Mama and Baby

It's been more than two years, and Arrow is all grown up! Here's some pictures of him and his Mama, much courtesy of Ariel's newest hobby, photography. Without him I could never have gotten those action shots.

In the car on the way to the park; Arrow is on the right

They look relaxed, but don't be fooled. To get them to stay still long enough to photograph them, I had to put them in a down-stay.

They are leaping for bubbles. Bubbles are serious business, just look at the expression on Trinity's face as she pivots in midair to catch one. Also, there is very little foreshortening - Arrow really does stand that high. He can put his paws on my shoulders even without jumping. The boy is tall!

Trinity coursing over the leaves in pursuit of a ball.

Last winter, Trinity enjoying the open ball-chasing space provided by the frozen lake.

Later, when the lake is not so frozen. This is Arrow looking ridiculous. He is still a very undignified and silly dog, no matter how much he might think he's grown-up and fierce.

There's a ball just above the edge of the frame, you just can't see it. Arrow is about to leap for it.

The ride home, Trinity looking out the window alertly.

Arrow is pooped from a long walk and splayed out on the dog bed.

Growing Up

Well folks, I know I haven't been posting much lately. The puppies are growing "like campaign promises," as my book describes it, and becoming more doglike every day. I haven't posted much because they're now in the realm of real puppyhood that anyone who's ever taken home a puppy has already seen. Nonetheless, this does not mean they aren't doing anything interesting!

Day before yesterday, Blue had one ear up. Yesterday, he had two. He looks completely different, especially since this has happened concurrently with his reaching a new developmental level insofar as he has acquired an adult-like trot and carriage of the head. He's also beginning his fear period a few days early, oh joy of joys, and attempts to flee from strangers if not held. This is a puppy who will need a lot of socializing.

Aqua is still very much a puppy, with his head round and puppylike and his ears and paws soft and floppy. The musculature is developing, but more slowly, as he continues to be several days behind his siblings in his (otherwise normal) development. He is waggy and happy, and greets new people easily and with an offer of kisses. He also strongly prefers to poop outside of his area and will consistently ask to be let out, but until yesterday, it was hard to tell whether he wanted to poop or just wanted attention. Also, he would very much like to poop in the hallway instead of outside, and managed to elude Ariel long enough to do so last night while I made dinner. Triumph! He was so pleased.

The dominance hierarchy has settled with Aqua on the bottom, poor guy. Blue growls and barks to drive him back from the food until he's done. I'm going to start feeding them out of separate bowls, something which hadn't previously been necessary. I'm also going to start feeding them meals instead of free-feeding, although their mealtime intake won't be restricted, because I'm tired of them pooping constantly! If I'm not there to let them out, then they dash around in a panic, looking for a better spot, until they reach the end of their fue and detonate wherever they happen to be. Then, naturally, they step in it and track it around, where it dries instantly and sticks like grim death.

Trinity is having a blast with them, though still too rough to let them play unsupervised. The puppies' grips are strong enough now that the three can play tug-o-war together, and that game works very nicely and she is quite polite and friendly with them, as this game doesn't ignite her prey drive.

I know some people may be wondering how Trinity took the loss of two of her puppies when Goldie and Gilly went home last Tuesday. Honestly, she didn't even notice. She didn't look for them or pine for even a moment, and seems to be enjoying having fewer puppies because they have a better family dynamic. I was sad about them leaving, but once they were gone, I found that, although I had lost two puppies, I had gained a lot more intimacy with the remaining dog pack.

Vet visit

So the biggest event in our pups' lives was the trip to the vet for vaccines on Thursday. My friend Elana came along to help me maneuver the puppies. I loaded two crates into the hatchback and put two puppies in each, with their usual "kennel buddy" and toys. They immediately started screaming, which they have done every time I tried to drive them anywhere, even around the parking lot.

It was a long drive to the vet and I started to feel a numbness in my ears around mile 5. It occurred to me that if I cracked the windows a bit, the sound waves might go out the window and be quieter - I've noticed I have to turn up the radio when the windows are open. As soon as I did so, the pups instantly shut up... and fell asleep! I was dumbfounded, and felt more than a little bad for not trying that sooner. I had thought the road noise would frighten them but clearly I was wrong.

By the time we arrived at the vet, the puppies had clearly decided their kennel was a sweet spot. I lugged them into the exam room still in their kennels, for security, and then let them out to explore. Only Goldie, however, wanted to come out; the others were happy snuggled into the corner of their kennel on their soft blanket.

The vet examined them all and they were very good. They accepted treats, which the vet said meant they were not too nervous and was a good sign that their socialization is working, and didn't complain about the table, or about being prodded and stuck with a needle. She gave everyone a clean bill of health, and says she found all of the boys' balls, although one each of Blue and Aqua have not descended yet.

I was, of course, delighted to hear that Aqua is healthy! She says the short palate becomes less of an issue as they grow anyway and as an adult he may not even have one anymore. This means that he will be going to Connecticut to live with Jeff's boss, and hopefully get to play/work with Jeff too, which I think will give him confidence. Blue will be staying home, which is good because he and Mama have a particularly good, respectful relationship.

Speaking of Blue, today we had a new developmental milestone: Object possession! I  had given each pup a slice of roast beef to eat while they practised being in their kennels this afternoon (they are doing great) and Blue's had a piece of gristle in it, so he was still working on it when his kennel buddy, Aqua, had finished. When Aqua came and investigated Blue's beef, Blue mantled over it and gave him a Look and a low growl. Aqua backed off, then tried again, with the same result and a slightly longer growl. This time he turned his back and went to the other side of the kennel to chew a rawhide instead.

I was so pleased - not with the growling so much, but with the normal doggy interaction. I had been wondering if the pups would get good at this sort of "Leave me alone" interaction, because Trinity never, ever tells them to go away or protects her stuff from them, so they wouldn't be able to learn it from her. Evidently they are teaching each other and I am happy to watch.

Speaking of Trinity, the poor dear simply will not stop making milk. She hasn't nursed them in three days but milk still drips from her breasts. When I let her see them, nothing I wrap her up in is sufficient to keep the pups off of her rear breasts, especially since she spreads her legs to make it easier! I'm also worried that their nuzzling will promote more milk. So, I can't really let her play with them, and it's causing her significant distress. I may see if she can go stay with my uncle for a night.

Pee pad issue resolving

So I thought long and hard about it and concluded that I should rearrange the pen so that the pee pads were where the puppies had decided to pee. I moved the kennels over towards the "front" of the pen (which faces the door and the computer) and removed the old nest box entirely, then placed the pee pads along the back wall. The puppies are still sleeping in the front area and NOT on the pee pads. It appears that I was wrong when I thought the pads should be nearest the door; they wanted to sleep there and chose that as their nesting area so it is right that I moved the pads.

They are having trouble peeing on the pads and tend to pee about a foot and a half away from them, but I have hope, especially now that they aren't sleeping in their own pee. I feel a little bad for not doing this earlier but my intentions were good as I strode along that road to Hell (so to speak).

We Have a Situation

The puppies have long thought of the pee pads as a comfy place to lie. Well, they've decided that they shouldn't pee in their "nest" and will now pee everywhere BUT the pee pads! This morning I found they had pooped ALL OVER the enclosure including INSIDE THE KENNEL! I was pissed.

This is a serious problem and extremely frustrating because I can't convince them not to sleep on the pads. I'm worried their instinct to not pee where they sleep might be dampened by constantly sleeping on something that smells like pee. I'm going to try to accelerate their crate training - I need to do that anyway - so that they are spending significant sleeping time in the kennels instead of on the pads.

Wish me luck :(

Socialization

I can't believe I forgot to post about this on Sunday! The big event in their lives that day was going to church after the service to have their first experience with groups of children. The church helped me socialize Trinity into the friendly, child-loving girl she is, and they had been waiting with bated breath to finally meet her puppies. I knew this was a good, safe place to bring them, since everyone there had already learned on Trinity.

The children were all very good, and nobody minded the pups' nibbling or attempted to pick them up and carry them around. Ariel helped me and we took both x-pens and linked them together to make a large pen on the church lawn.

The pups did extremely well and I'm glad I brought them. I took the kennels along and they hid in them once or twice but always came back out for more. Individual puppies had as many as four children clustered around them and petting them and they showed very little trepidation, and a lot of playfulness and curiosity - especially spunky were Aqua and Gilly! I had a lot of "Are they all spoken for?"

Tuesday they will meet Ariel's co-workers, and Wednesday they will meet the folks in my father's office. Thursday is the vet, so they will stay home Friday and Saturday to rest.

Piranhas and Chinese Cresteds

All the pups attempt to climb or hop up to my face, which is often rather alarming as their snapping jaws close inches from my mouth. Mostly, especially Goldie and Aqua, they want to lick my chin and I want to encourage this ritual because it is how I like Trinity to greet me - politely, one lick on the chin when invited, then back to wagging. However, this is not always their intention. When my hair, which is long, is loose after a shower, its springy, dangling locks are unbearably tempting to the puppies and I found myself with a lapful of furry piranha fish this evening, rather like this one:



Meanwhile, Trinity is shedding ALL of her fur, it seems. I can see through to her skin on almost every part of her body except her tail and mane. I find myself wondering if I have a Tervuren or a gigantic Chinese Crested Dog in my house!